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Ubud Hotel, One Night Only

Lot's of information on Ubud hotels on this site, but nothing conclusive. It's difficult to get a feel for how these hotels are located in relation to one another or the town from their individual web sites. We are touring with guide, Putu, and have one (1) night in Ubud. We always go for luxury and charm, but our time in the hotel we choose will be limited. We picture something upscale Balinese with a view to wake up to and enjoy a cigar on our balcony/patio at night. Ambiance, style, location. Thoughts?
Thanks, K

The basic question is whether you want to be in town, to stroll around in the evening and find a nice place to eat, or out of town, where you're more likely to get a fantastic view but probably fell stuck there for the evening.

The Komaneka Monkey Forest is about as close to the middle of town as you can get, and it's one of the poshest options as well. Out of town, you have the Four Seasons Sayan, voted one of the world's top resorts several years in a row, as well as the Komaneka Tanggayuda and a few other very nice resorts. I've stayed at the Komaneka Tanggayuda, and the views were fantastic.

We have a guide bringing us to Ubud. I am sure we will have dinner together and take in some traditional dance exhibition (when in Rome...). Four Seasons might be a waste on this trip with limited time to enjoy that nice a property. I would say close to town, cool room and ambiance/view.

I had looked into Komaneka Bisma online. Could be all about the pool as the rooms don't look that great. I could be wrong.

There were some disappointing reviews on Trip Advisor re: Kom. Monkey Forest. More than one post said they checked out and relocated to another Komaneka

Not sure of your budget but you should look at Uma Ubud. It's a full service resort with a boutique-y feel. In town, nice design, pretty (though not spectacular) views. Good food, lovely pool, well designed rooms. Rates high on the "cool" meter.

I also like the Alila, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Ubud town. Here you get the spectacular views (same valley as the Four Seasons)but a few notches down on luxe. Beautiful pool, restaurant, spa, serene ambience. Food is pricey, though very good, and rooms, while well designed, are on the small side. All have balconies or terraces looking at the view. Good place to soak up the Ubud ambience.

FWIW I almost never look at TripAdviser. They are often incredibly off base. Bad reviews may well be by a competitor. I put a little more faith in reviews on Agoda, since they only allow people who have booked and stayed at the hotel to submit reviews. On Agoda, the Komaneka Monkey Forest gets an average rating of 8.9 out of 10. The Komaneka Tanggayuda gets 9.1.

I second staying on the outskirt of town. The Uma as mentioned by Marmot might fit your requirement. Their top villa is nice with a view of the river, valley and paddy and a place for you to enjoy your cigars by your private pool as well. It is also within walking distant to one of my favorite restaurant in Ubud, the Mosaic(sell good Cubans there as well).

Just want to clarify what "in town" can mean. Ubud has sprawled in all directions, so a resort could be called in town, but still be a 15-20 minute walk from center-of-town attractions like Ubud market, Ubud Palace or some of the central Ubud restaurants. Uma Ubud falls in this category; it's convenient but it's on the outskirts.

I agree that proximity to Mosaic is a plus. Very good food, but be aware that it's quite pricy.

We just stayed at the Komenika Tangg. It was quite nice and we booked it through Agoda for $260 with tax/service and full American breakfast. The one dinnner we eat there on arrival was just o.k. But the service was exceptional and the rooms are very nice. After going to Java and Sulawisi for 16 days we returned to Bali and stayed at the The Chedi Club for 3 days. Having stayed at the Four Seasons-Sayan and visited several others on this and our last visit I must admit you will feel like you "died and went to heaven" if you can even get in since people book multiple nights and they only have 20 villas. You do not need a pool villa ($460) as we had but the 1 bedroom suite was $325 through Agoda. It is one of the finest stays in 43 years of travel.

In reading I noticed several mentionions of Putu. There are several. We used Puta whose last name began with a. He was good but in our opinion it appeared his interest lewvel is not high. We realized his wife is expectimng in 7-8 weeks and he had some concerns but if that was it I can understand if not I have had guides with much more interest in our expectations having visited Bali several times in years past. Hids cousin Wayan works for him now. I would suggest if Putu wishes to have wayan sub for him I would say you will not be getting an experienced guide though he is a very nice young maried man with good safe driving skillas. So as transport Wayan is fine as a guide use Putu or other if we are referring to the same Putu which is the first name of at least 3 guides.

I was just about to post a question to the forum about hotel recommendations in Bali, when I saw this discussion. So, perhaps I can help with adding my research and get my questions answered at the same time.

We are going to Bali in May and will be staying 5 nights in Ubud and 5 nights in Sanur Beach. For Ubud, we narrowed down our choices to: 1.Maya Ubud - looks nice (nice balance of luxury and nature), away from the city, but still close enough to make it to the city on a short shuttle ride, and 2.Warwick Ibah Villas and Spa - again, good mix of authentic architecture, nature and luxury, but on a walking distance from the city, although the shuttle is available. They are both roughly the same price, both offer airport transfer, free shuttle to Ubud, nice breakfast, etc. All this is based on websites and reviews. Does anyone have a recommendation between the two?

Also, one of our top choices was Komaneka on the Monkey Forest Road. We decided against it because it's in the city and although that can be beneficial in terms of restaurants, shopping, etc., we thought it would be better to stay at the place that's a little closer to the nature, perhaps quieter and with nicer views. Is this a correct assessment? Again, cost wise, all three mentioned resorts are pretty much the same.

For Sanur beach, we wanted to stay at Bali Hyatt, but after reading some recent reviews, we are not sure. What we like are one-story, open, resort-like hotels that are working with the natural environment around them, not disrupting it. Also a nice pool and an access to a nice, swimmable beach is a must. Another hotel in Sanur Beach that is being recommended is Puri Santrian. Looks nice on pictures, but at times they all do. Does anyone know anything about these two properties or is there another one that you can recommend?

Hi Stan -- is it the Chedi Club that you're saying "died and went to heaven"? I'm also weighing the Ubud question and from the web site -- it looks so austere. That could just be the pictures tho -- can you say a bit more about that?
How far are out is Komaneka from Ubud center (not Monkey Forest Road -- there are two besides that right?
Hoping our employee nights come through but ... want to be prepared if not. We were last in Bali in 2007. It was very quiet then!

Ann: I would definetly choose the Maya over the Ibah. the Maya has huge lovely grounds and the staff there are wonderful. I play tennis there and my Rotary Club meets there so I am biased but it's just a lovely beautifully run hotel, even nicer than the Amandari or Four Seasons in my opinion. The Spa is set far below next to a small river and they are to die for.

I did recently win an overnight at the Komaneka Bisma and although the building itself is like a concrete wall, it has incredible views of the forest beyond and the pool and spa area are fabulous. Again, the level of service is just wonderful. For food, if you have to eat at the hotel and don't want to do the ten minutes into town, Bisma food is just ok, the Maya does a better job for meals.

Jen: Komaneka Bisma is about a 15 minute walk "out of town" but remember that the charms of Ubud are not in town...they are in the countryside. If taking meals is your primary consideration for hotel location then yes, you could take the shuttle to downtown. If you check a map you will see that Bisma road is actually adjacent to downtown, but the hotel itself is pretty far down the road, if you travel by car. Tanggayuda is not walking distance, it is about 3 kilometers from downtown along a main road. However, it is in a wonderful foresty location just ten minutes drive from downtown, depending on traffic. Both hotels and in fact all hotels are just a few minutes from incredible rice field walks and you can also easily hop in a car and tour all over Ubud District within minutes.

As for guides, Putu is a common name, as Balinese names are according to birth order, and are not gender specific. It's the name for the first born child of a couple who have different original castes (say a Sudra married to a Ksatria). There are thousands of wonderful guides around Ubud, you will easily find them everywhere, including at your hotel and standing by in front of shops and restaurants. Also, every resident of Bali has several who will be excellent and knows the island very well. You definitely do not need to book a guide in advance. One of the advantages of choosing a guide when you get here is that if you don't like his car, english skills, personality, etc etc you don't have to use him. Or if you do use hm and after the first day there is no chemistry, you can simply choose someone else for tomorrow.

My first visit to Bali when I first came to work in Indonesia, (in my younger days) I asked the driver who picked me up at the airport if he knew of any guide/driver who could take us on a tour. He said he could do it! Wow, we were so pleased, and we agreed to hire him on the spot. Then, when we got to the hotel, we found out that they have a long list of vetted guides who take turns getting customers! And we thought we had been so lucky to find someone who could guide us! We had a really good laugh at that misperception! Some of the other guides we met were actually better suited to us and had better english skills than the one we had prematurely hired...but oh, well.

Finding guides in Bali are like finding surfers in Hawaii. They are everywhere, and most if not all have a high degree of familiarity with the island and can explain where you are going and what you see. They can also take you to their home villages, or villages off the beaten path, can escort you to ceremonies if there are any on the island when you are there, etc etc. And you will make lifelong friends.

jen, I haven't stayed at the Chedi Club but I've visited frequently. It's part of the same group, GHM, that runs the Legian and is associated with the Aman and Alila.

GHM poured a lot of money into the Chedi Club, but it has a few structural issues that they couldn't overcome. The grounds and public facilities are beautiful and spacious and I'm sure the service is top notch.

The downside is that the villas are kind of "pokey" without much architectural allure. It's located in the middle of rice paddies and doesn't have the same river valley view like some of the other Ubud resorts.

Komeneka Tanggayuda is across the road from the Alila. It's in the same general area as the Four Seasons, but on a different river valley, not quite as scenic. It has a fair amount of charm, but I wouldn't consider it in the same level as the luxury resorts.

Just returned from a three night stay at Komaneka Monkey Forest and can report that it was just terrific. To be on Monkey Forest Road with all of its attractions and have a fabulous, relaxing place to stay was the best of both worlds. Two steps out of our hotel we had galleries, restaurants, and the ability to walk to several Balinese shows in the evening. The hotel itself is very nice--you have no idea you're in the middle of Ubud.

Sorry for being so late on following up on this thread, but I just realized that I left it open ended. We did end up at Komaneka, Monkey Forest. GREAT suggestion and location for the short time we were there. The property was very nice,and our villa A+. We did not regret staying in town as the views of the rice fields and the super cool ravine behind our villa made it seem like we were somewhere else. Step outside and we were close to everything. It was hot as heck at the end of October. Plunge pool was the ticket for that. I'm not a big monkey fan, but the forest was a short walk down the street. Monkeys everywhere...ewww. lol. All good,and thanks everyone for great info and feedback.

Jen; The Chedi Club is a little outside the villas but around the spectacular lap ++ infinity pool it is beautiful with ricefields in the surrounding area. The dining room is elegant looking out on 3 sides on rice fields and the food is very good with resonable prfices. No it is not a $7 dinner but nor it is a $40 dinner. Go light on wine though anywhere for thatjacks up the price throughout Bali. It was an estate owned by an extremly weathy man who bequethed it to a foundation to run as a small luxury hotel so the profit motive is there but not paramount. At least through year-end paying for 2 nights get's a third night free. I think I miss-stated the 2012 rate. We may be paying $360 with all taxes including full American breakfast.The Four Seasons is clearerly lusher on the outside the the rooms at the Chedi Club are twice as large and where have you been where on the coffee table is a complimentary glass glask ofGin, Vodka and Scotch and at 5 PM you can call your butler for a complimentary mixed drink with chips. It's not the money savings it the way things are handled and the care of the grounds and guests that impress us.
I hope the above gives you a clearer picture.

StanKase:
Sorry I did not see your post. Yes! Putu was spot on and a delight to be with. We spent 2 days together. He took us to his family compound for a visit on the 2nd day. We had a blast. Thanks for your recommendation. King